Schwebebahn Dresden

LEFT: The Schwebebahn
ascends 84.2 meters or 276 feet from the River Elbe. The one-of-a-kind
monorail overhead railway was built in 1901.

By Durant Imboden

The
German word "Schwebebahn" means "suspension railway," and Germany has
two famous examples of the overhead monorail concept: The Schwebebahn Wuppertal,
which runs some 13 km or 8 miles through the streets of an industrial city in
North Rhine-Westphalia, and its smaller but even older predecessor: The Schwebebahn Dresden,
which opened for business in 1901 and is the oldest suspension railway in the
world.

Dresden's Schwebebahn is unique for another reason: Unlike
other monorail systems, it's a Bergbahn or mountain railway that runs
273.8 meters or 898 feet up a steep hillside, with an elevation difference of
84.2 meters or 276 feet between its lower and upper stations.

At
first glance, you might assume that the Dresdner Schwebebahn is just another
funicular railway, but a closer look will reveal its one-of-a-kind design:
Instead of riding on tracks, the counterbalanced cars are suspended from
overhead girders or guide rails. (It's worth noting that the system was designed
by Eugen Langen, who went on to build Wuppertal's monorail transit system.)

Directions:

The
Schwebebahn Dresden is located along the River Elbe in Loschwitz, next to the "Blaue
Wunder" bridge a few
kilometers downstream from Dresden's city center.

You can reach the Schwebebahn from central Dresden with the DVB, the city's
public-transportation network. Download the
DVB Route Timetables for the Schwebebahn, or simply ride tram 6 or 12 to
Schillerplatz, then cross the Elbe via the bridge to the Schwebebahn's lower
station at Körnerplatz.

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